


Beating Hearts

by Abanden



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombies, F/M, I tried not to specify reader's gender, Reader-Insert, Slow Burn, Undecided Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-23
Updated: 2019-06-11
Packaged: 2019-11-28 11:05:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18207566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Abanden/pseuds/Abanden
Summary: I’m not quite sure how the outbreak started. It doesn't matter at this point, I have to focus on surviving. I have to help my friends.





	1. The beginning

I’m not quite sure how the outbreak started. Whenever I asked people, they’d say the government had been experimenting with chemical warfare, and this was the result, others had said it came from wild animals. When I wondered about how the apocalypse would come upon us, I didn’t imagine that it would start off slowly. 

Word had traveled that people were getting sick from some new kind of disease with no cure, everyone thought it would be okay as long as we stayed away. Researchers were slowly collecting more data on the disease. The first piece of information ever reported was to not let infected blood or saliva into your system. That should be easy to avoid, I thought at the time. However, those that were infected had started to become violent, they attacked anybody that got too close to them. The quarantined areas had slowly started to devolve into madness, people were becoming sick very quickly with all the violence happening. The security had declined because even the guards had become infected. Eventually, the disease had broken out to other areas.

Everyone started to stockpile their supplies. People started creating bunkers to hide out in. I never had the kind of money for that thing, so I made do with whatever was at my apartment. The news had said the disease had spread to the next town over. I tried to board up my unit as much as I could. I was about to step out of my apartment until I heard screaming. I stepped out of my door and looked around, I could see people running down the street. I went back into my apartment and turned on the t.v. 

“Everyone is advised to stay indoors, if you are not near your home, please proceed to any evacuation shelter. The authorities are sending people right now to contain the problem. They estimate that it will take about a day for infected individuals to be properly quarantined, please stay in your homes until it is safe.” The news network was repeating this message, so I decided to turn off the t.v. 

I will admit, I’m very scared right now. I decide to call up my family to talk to them, hopefully to calm myself down.

“Hello? Mom?”  
“Honey! I saw the news, are you okay?”  
“Yeah I’m okay… I’m kinda worried.”  
“I wish I could be there with you right now.”  
“I think it’ll be fine as long as I don’t go outside, I’ll just check the news every once in a while.”  
“I didn’t think anything like this would ever happen.”  
“It’s okay mom, I bet by the end of the week I’ll be able to visit you guys again.”  
“Just stay safe okay? I’ll tell everybody else that you called.”  
“Thanks mom, I feel a bit better. Tell them I love them and I’ll try to come as soon as I can.”  
“We love you too. Please stay safe.”

I hung up the phone and just sat on the couch for a bit. I feel so anxious right now, maybe I should go check up on my friends. I took out my laptop and checked if any of my friends were online. I went on my group chat, seeing that a few of my friends were online. 

Me: Hey are you guys okay?  
Kairi: Yeah… glad I don’t live too close to where it broke out. How are you?  
Namine: Hey, [y/n]. Didn’t it happen close to you? Are you okay?  
Me: I’m a bit scared to be honest, called up my mom just in case anything happens.  
Namine: Kairi! Can I come over? I don’t really wanna be alone right now.  
Kairi: Yeah sure, just be careful.  
Me: haha, wish I could join you guys.  
Kairi: Once they get the situation under control, you should come over too. We can have a  
sleepover and get our mind off everything.  
Namine: Maybe you can drive over?  
Me: Oh! I totally forgot that I could do that.  
Kairi: Do you have enough gas in your car?  
Me: uh...  
Kairi: lol  
Namine: Okay I’m on my way!  
Me: Well I’ll just text you guys if I start feeling lonely  
Kairi: Yeah we definitely gotta keep in touch, especially during this mess  
Me: Talk to you guys later

I closed out of the chat feeling relieved to do something normal to keep my mind off of whatever was happening outside. I was about to turn off my laptop until a new chat window popped up.

Roxas: Hey, how are you feeling?  
Me: Hey! Well I could be better but considering the situation, I think everybody could relate lol  
Roxas: Yeah that's true… do you want some company right now?

Roxas lived in the same building as me. Whenever one of us were down, we’d go and visit each other. 

Me: Yeah, I wouldn’t mind. Is it just you right now?  
Roxas: Sora was gonna come over before all that shit happened so I don’t know if he’s actually  
ON his way or not  
Me: Well if he is then he’s definitely invited as well…. Wait is he driving here?  
Roxas: Yeah, why?  
Me: I’m slightly concerned. The last time I got in a car with him he got so distracted he ran a red  
light and almost got a ticket.  
Roxas: Almost?  
Me: Yeah he flashed the officer his puppy eyes and they just gave him a warning lol  
Roxas: I’m… so jealous.  
Roxas: I’m just gonna grab some stuff and take the elevator down  
Me: see ya

I plugged my laptop in to charge and pulled out my phone. I scrolled through all my social medias to see how other people were dealing with the outbreak. For the most part, people weren’t too worried, saying that as long as we listen to the news then we should be fine. 

I heard the doorbell ring, so I opened the door. Roxas smiled at me while greeting me. “What took you so long? I’m almost all caught up with my newsfeed.” I let him in and watched as he set his bag down. “The elevator was acting up again.” I nodded and sat down on my couch. Roxas sat down on the other end of the couch, laying down on it and making himself feel at home. “God, you’re taking up so much space.” Roxas laughed, “Yeah, you’re such a good host but you’d be an even better one if you let me have the whole couch.” I rolled my eyes and let his legs rest on my thighs. “So, did Sora respond?” “Uh,” he went as he was checking his phone and eventually nodded, “yeah, he was just caught in traffic.” 

There was a silence in the room after, usually whenever this happened I would be fine with it. At times, the silence was comforting, especially with Roxas. Due to the event that happened today, I felt too nervous to let the silence hang on for too long, so I decided to break it. “Namine is going over to Kairi’s.” Roxas nodded, “We definitely don’t have to worry about them if they’re together.” I laughed a bit, “The only person we have to worry about is Sora.” This set Roxas off into a laughing fit. The doorbell suddenly rang, making both of us yelp a bit in surprise. I went to go open the door while laughing off how embarrassed I was. 

“Were you guys talking shit?” Sora immediately said.  
I laughed, “What makes you think that? But also, yes.”  
Sora mocked offense as he came into the apartment. “So what were you guys saying about me?”  
“[y/n] was saying that we have to worry about you.” Roxas looked up from his phone, at us, as he spoke.  
“Ouch, I mean it’s nice that you guys think about me but ow.” Sora put a hand over his heart.  
I lightly punched his arm, “C’mon you’re strong and all but you don’t exactly pay attention to your surroundings.”  
Sora looked at me confused, “I’ve had to save you from walking right into people more times than I can count.”  
We stared at each other for a good moment until we both started laughing. 

After I finished laughing, I told Sora to sit down while I got everyone some water. When I handed them their drinks, I decided to ask them about something that’s been on my mind.

“Hey guys..” They both stopped what they were doing and waited for me to continue. “Do you think we’ll actually be safe from this outbreak?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first time writing a fic thats longer than 300 words lmao. I haven't fully decided what the endgame is gonna be but I also really wanna add more characters too, so I'll update it as I go. I'm also very sorry if I update kinda slow... I have school and work and I get distracted easily lol. If I ever take too long feel free to hit me up! I tried to keep reader gender neutral but I might slip up sometimes, sorry. If there's any mistakes lemme know and I'll fix them. Thanks for reading!


	2. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I took so long, life and school is beating my ass! It seems a bit slow right now, because I really wanna set up the friendships in this story first.

“Hey guys..” They both stopped what they were doing and waited for me to continue. “Do you think we’ll actually be safe from this outbreak?”  
Sora put his hand on my shoulder, “I’m sure we’ll be fine.”  
“What makes you think we won’t?” Roxas says with a curious look on his face.  
I took a moment to collect my thoughts before I responded. “Well… the other town thought they were going to be okay too, but look at what happened. What if the same thing happens to us here?”

At this point Sora is gently rubbing my arm, trying to comfort me.  
It was silent for a while, I imagine we were all thinking about the possibility.  
Roxas was the first to speak, “Everyone has been preparing just in case something happens anyway, so if it happens then we just have to keep going, y’know?”  
Sora nods and smiles at us, “We’re going to be okay as long as we all stick together.”  
I chuckled, “Thanks guys… I just wish all of our friends could be together.”  
“I mean… I did drive here.” Sora said with a smile. 

I gasped a bit, “Oh! You’re right.” I pulled out my phone to text Kairi, “Would you guys want to go over to Kairi’s place for a little sleepover?”  
Sora nodded, “She does have a bigger place than any of us plus, I haven’t gone over there in a while.”  
I started texting Kairi, while Sora and Roxas were having a conversation of their own.

Me: Hey, you know that sleepover you suggested earlier?

It was taking Kairi a bit to respond, so I listened in on Sora and Roxas’ conversation as I was waiting.  
“No, dude. Sea salt ice cream is actually life changing.” Roxas animatedly talks about his love for ice cream.  
Sora laughed it off, “You can have your sea salt ice cream, I’m gonna be on a mountain of pineapple mango ice cream.”  
I inserted myself into the conversation, “You’re both wrong, cookies and cream is the bomb.”  
Roxas almost looked insulted, “Don’t throw your basic ass flavor into our conversation.”  
We all laughed at how ridiculous this conversation was going.  
My phone vibrated, so I pulled it out to see that Kairi had finally responded.

Kairi: Yeah, did you figure out a way to get here?  
Me: Yep, Sora and Roxas came over so now I have a ride. Is it okay if they join us?  
Kairi: The more, the merrier right?  
Me: Alright cool. I’ll bring some food and stuff too  
Kairi: Always paranoid aren’t ya  
Me: I just wanna be safe lol  
Kairi: Better to be safe than sorry I guess  
Me: We’ll get packing and head on out  
Kairi: ok, see ya!

I put away my phone as I was speaking, “Kairi said we can come over.”  
“Cool, I’ve never been to Kairi’s before,” I heard Roxas say.  
Sora spoke up, “She can actually afford a house unlike us so it’ll be fun.”  
I started packing up supplies while joining in their conversation, “Kairi’s so lucky to be able to actually get a career straight out of college.”  
“I guess those internships do come in handy,” Sora came over to help me pack some stuff up.  
Roxas put his phone away, “So...why are you bringing so much stuff?”  
I chuckled nervously, “Oh you know, wanted to be the best guest at the sleepover.”  
Roxas sighs as he picks up one of my bags, “You can just say you’re worried, it’s not that hard to tell.”  
I sigh, “Yeah, I guess I am kind of worried.” 

We grab our stuff and start heading down to Sora’s car. “Oh yeah [y/n], how’s the job hunt?” Sora asked as we waited for the elevator. “Not so good,” I laugh a bit before continuing, “I haven’t found anything that I think I would be content with.” Roxas interjects, “Good thing I helped you get a job for now, or else you’d be broke.” Sora looked confused, “Wait, you helped set them up with that job?”

 _Ding!_ The elevator bell sounded.

“What did you do to get them to work at that cafe?” Sora continued speaking as we got in. “God these elevators are shit- He said he knows the guy that owns the place or something? ” I answered. Roxas looked at Sora with a similarly confused face, “Dude, Axel and Saix own the place.” Sora laughed. “I forgot because they don’t seem like the type to start a cafe together.” 

_Ding!_ The elevator bell sounded.

We all stepped out of the elevator to make our way to the car. “I guess I don’t know them as long as you guys have, but they match the place.” I held open the lobby door for the boys. Sora gasped. “I should visit you more often so I can catch a glimpse of Saix wearing the uniform.” I laughed. We crossed the parking to reach Sora’s car. He opened the trunk and we all put our bags in. “I don’t think Axel or Saix have ever actually worn the uniform,” I said as I got into the back seat. Roxas got into the passenger seat, “What? Lame.” 

Sora started pulling out of the parking stall before I exclaimed, “Seat belt!”  
Sora chuckled nervously before he clicked his seatbelt in. “That doesn’t happen often, I swear.”  
“Tsk-tsk Sora, who forgets to-” My sentence was interrupted by the sound of the seat belt also clicking in the seat in front of me.  
Roxas coughed before speaking, “Sorry, you were saying something about Sora?”  
Sora and I laughed for a bit before Roxas eventually gave in and started laughing along. I took a good four minutes to recover from my laughing fit.  
“Okay-okay, I’m good.” I say as Sora proceeds to continue heading towards Kairi’s house. 

“Since Kairi’s on like the other side of town and I have to avoid the ‘contaminated’ areas, anyone wanna take a nap?” Sora is surprisingly, very good at driving.  
“I might actually take you up on that offer, that whole thing on the news stressed me out.” I leaned back in my seat.  
Roxas looked up from his phone, “Don’t worry man, I’ll keep ya company.”  
Sora sighed, “Ahh, my hero.”  
Roxas groaned, “Stop!”  
I laughed before settling back into my seat.  
Slowly, slowly, my mind drifted to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!! Lemme know if theres any mistakes or anything! (i have nobody to check my shit)  
> If y'all wanna hit me up on my socials: abanden on tumblr, @jaaanet on twitter


	3. Chapter 3

“Hey, hey!”  
I slowly opened my eyes to see Sora standing at the car door at my side.  
“Ugh,” I stretched.  
“We’re here!” Sora smiled brightly at me.  
I stepped out of the car, slowly waking up my foggy mind.  
“Wanna help us a bit, sleeping beauty?” Roxas held out a bag towards me.  
I took and held it while groggily walking towards Kairi’s house.

_Knock, knock_  
“Kairi!” I half-yelled so she would be aware of who it was.  
The door promptly swung open to reveal the smiling redhead. “Finally!” Kairi exclaimed while pulling me in.  
“Woah…” I hear Roxas say.  
“Oh!” Kairi looked over at Roxas. “I forgot you’ve never been to my house before, feel free to explore.”  
Kairi went off to the kitchen while Roxas took this time to look around.

I walked into the living room and saw Namine watching some cartoons.  
“What’cha watching this time?” I said as I sat down next to her on the couch.  
“Ooo is that what I think it is?” Sora joined us after putting down his bags.  
Namine giggled, “I think you’d like watching Steven Universe. The show matches you perfectly, Sora.”  
I laughed, “The power of friendship, right?”  
Sora pretended to be upset, “You mock me as if the power of friendship _isn’t_ immense.”  
Roxas sat down on the floor, facing us as we were laughing.

Kairi peeked her head from the kitchen, “Did anyone want anything to drink?” As everyone was vocalizing what they wanted, I joined Kairi in the kitchen. “Here to help, boss.” I saluted. Kairi said through her laugh, “Stand down, cadet.” She handed me some drinks to take back to our friends. 

As I was walking into the living room, the television was flashing another warning to stay inside. 

After handing out the drinks, I sat down and sighed. “Why the long face?” Kairi said as she joined us in the living room. “I’m just a bit anxious about everything.” I couldn’t stop staring at the warning flashing on the screen. Kairi smiled at me, “You know what’ll distract you? Board games.” She immediately ran off to get some games.  
I chuckled as I watched her go. “Alright guys, clear the floor we’re about to play some board games apparently.” I started moving things to the side while everyone else started to help.  
“Ooo what are our options?” Sora said excitedly.  
“I hope there's Pictionary,” Namine said as she turned off the television.  
Roxas moved over so Sora could join him on the floor. “That _would_ be your favorite game.” Roxas laughed. 

Kairi came back out with an armful of different games, setting them down in the middle of our little circle, “So which one should we play?”  
Sora started stacking up the games, “The night is young and so are we… let’s try to go through all of them.”  
Mixed reactions came from our little group. I laughed a bit before speaking, “I mean that’s one way to keep busy but uh… I think my brain is gonna be fried before we even get halfway through.”  
“Sounds like something a loser would say.” Kairi said while already setting up one of the boards.

We were halfway through a game of Monopoly before things got chaotic.  
“Roxas, what the fuck? Have you been stealing from me this whole time?” Sora looked about ready to actually fight Roxas.  
Roxas gave Sora a straight face while speaking,“This is how you can pay me back for crashing at my place when you were jobless.” Roxas then proceeded to take more of Sora’s currency.  
“This means war,” Sora declared before jumping onto Roxas.  
Kairi got up to try to separate them, “ Both of you need to shut up!” 

Needless to say, Monopoly is no longer an option for our game nights. 

“Okay time for Pictionary!” Before Namine could pull out the game, all of our phones buzzed. I took it out of my pocket to see a state emergency announcement had been sent. 

“Quarantined area has expanded. More information on our state website. REMAIN INDOORS.” 

Kairi reaches for the remote, “I guess we should keep on the t.v just in case.” 

“I guess I’ll uh… go look on the website.” I said as I opened my internet browser. “Well.. the good news is that if we stayed at our place, we would’ve been in the quarantine zone.”

Namine gave me a gentle smile, “Guess you’ll have to stay forever.”  
I chuckled, “Sorry Kairi, you’re stuck with us.”  
“You guys are some of my closest friends. I wouldn’t mind you guys crashing over even if there wasn't the impending threat of an apocalypse.” Kairi smiled, trying to reassure me.  
I vocalized my uneasiness, “haha.. Please don’t call it that, that makes me even more worried.”  
Kairi’s eyes widened, “Ah! I’m sorry! Let’s just continue our game.”

Sora moved in front of me and just stared at me for a bit. I stared back, confused. He slowly lifted his hand and poked my forehead, “You’re making a face.”  
I lightly smacked his hand away, “Yeah I tend to do that when I see something strange.”  
Sora laughed, “Okay... but you were making it before I got up in your face.”  
I shrugged my shoulders, “Just stressed, is all.”

“Finally,”I looked over to see Namine at the stack of games, ” its Pictionary time!” She held the package triumphantly after finally pulling it out.  
Roxas looked at us before speaking, “How are we gonna split the teams?”  
“Uh,” I started, “ I feel kind of tired. I’m gonna take a shower.”  
“You know where the bathroom is right?” Kairi asked.  
I nodded while grabbing one of my bags.

I walked up the stairs to the bathroom. After closing and locking the door behind me, I quickly removed my clothing and started the shower. I took a few moments just standing in the flow of water. I really hoped that whatever this strange disease was, there would quickly be a cure. Maybe I’m a bit too anxious. I mean, why else would everyone else continue with their lives when the next town could be in chaos? Just stop overthinking things. If I keep repeating this to myself, it’ll work eventually. Gotta keep myself busy, gotta distract myself.

I finished up my shower and went down to see that Namine’s game of Pictionary was finished.  
“So, who won?”  
They all glanced at me as I entered the room.  
I stared right at Namine, already knowing the answer.  
She smiled at me, “Kairi and I did!”  
Roxas pouted, “Kairi is just lucky she was teamed up with Namine.”  
Sora stared at Roxas, dejectedly. “Art major.”  
Roxas looked genuinely hurt, “I specialize in graphic design, okay? This is completely different. I’m _actually_ so offended right now.”  
I patted Roxas’s shoulder, “It’s okay, you can win the next game.”

“Aww,” Namine tried to lighten the mood, “it’s okay Roxas, Sora is just very overly competitive.”  
Kairi lightly smacked Sora’s arm. “Ack! Roxas! I’m sorry dude I just… really wanna win.”

I swear I could almost see Sora’s eyes sparkling after saying that.

Roxas chuckled, “It’s alright man, I always give you shit anyways. What goes around comes around right?”  
“Onto the next game!” Sora said while laughing.

The rest of the night was filled with laughter and play fighting. After finishing a game of Life, I decided to head to bed.  
Roxas sat up, “I’m pretty spent too.”  
“Oh!” Kairi exclaimed, “How are we gonna figure out the sleeping situation?”  
“It’s really just you guys that have to figure it out,” Namine said while looking at me, Sora, and Roxas. “Kairi and I used to sharing a room.”  
“There's only one guest bedroom?” Sora asked.  
Kairi nodded.

I looked between Sora and Roxas. I definitely did not want to actually pick anyone so I wouldn’t possibly offend one of them.  
“Well,” Sora began, “I don’t mind sleeping on the couch.”  
“Yeah you got used to it from crashing at my place.” Roxas chuckled.  
I yawned. “Alright I’m really tired.”  
“Go to sleep! We’re just gonna keep playing until we pass out.” Sora said with a smile.  
“Night guys.” I waited for Roxas to get up so we could go together.

I went into the room first and Roxas left the door open behind him as he entered. “So, we sharing the bed?” I asked as I sat down on it. Roxas shrugged and laid down on the bed. I laid down and tried to rest. Clearing all the thoughts from my head, breathing in and out. Right before I slipped into sleep, I heard Roxas speak up next to me. “Hey.” 

I slowly opened my eyes and turned towards him. Realizing that I was still awake, Roxas continued speaking, “How are you feeling?” 

A bit irritated, I responded, “Well… I almost fell asleep just now.”  
Roxas chuckled, “Right, sorry.” He briefly paused. ”Really though, are you okay?” Roxas shuffled in bed to face me. I stared at him while trying to form a proper answer. After taking a bit to fully process my thoughts, I answered. “I’m really nervous.”

Roxas gave me a gentle smile, prompting me to continue. “I’m worried that this isn’t just a small little incident. What if we have to leave everything behind? What if we get stuck here with whatever disease is infecting people?” 

Roxas reached his hand out towards me, very hesitant and slow until he gently patted my head. His touch was comforting, easing me into a sense of security. “I’m sure you’re not the only one afraid. If anything happens, we have each other.” I stayed silent, so Roxas continued. “Don’t be afraid to tell us whenever you feel like this, okay?”

I nodded, feeling less heavy with worry. “Thanks, Roxas…” 

“Of course. Now, I’ll let you get some sleep.” Roxas continued with his touch until I fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry, i've been feeling kind of out of it and i thought finishing up the semester would help but uhhh it made me even more unmotivated fhslafhflkha. i wrote a lot of dialogue because i like seeing interactions between characters whenever i play like dating sims and shit hehe. I'm not used to writing dialogue though so hhhh. Lemme know if theres any errors! Thanks for reading!!!
> 
> also feel free to talk to me on twitter (@jaaanet)!!


End file.
